Сan Another Chernobyl Occur in Europe?

Not any European will remember what exactly happened on April 26, 1986 near the place called Chernobyl. This day the second largest (after Fukushima) nuclear accident took place. It was not the first time, something like that had happened in Long Island, the USA. Back then thousands had to be relocated and the measures to counter radioactive contamination had to be taken. But it was far from Europe unlike in the case of Chernobyl when the tragedy left many traces all around the continent.

28 years have passed. Chernobyl has been turned into a national park; the plant stopped functioning while the reactor is isolated from environment. The territory was decontaminated with high radiation remaining detected only in a few places. But it would be an exaggeration to say Chernobyl poses no threat anymore. A new storage for Westinghouse used fuel is going to be constructed by 2017. The $800 million construction will be paid for by Europeans who have no relation to US fuel producers…

At first glance, the storage construction is a good thing for the protection of environment. But this is the country where a civil war is raging. The Neo-Nazi Pravy Sector militants, who helped Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to take office, have already threatened to stage nuclear terrorist acts. They even tried to capture Rovno nuclear plant situated at the distance of only a hundred kilometers from Poland. The guards fought off the attack but since then the Pravy Sector units have acquired heavy arms.

And it’s not the worst nightmare for Europe. One has to know at least some basic things to destroy a reactor. It’s much worse when experts get involved to change the ways the station is run. For instance, if they want to store the type of fuel not recommended for storage and use by instructions. In 2000 President Yushenko ordered to get rid of Russian fuel. The South Ukrainian plant near the Black Sea used the fuel of Westinghouse. It almost led to an accident. The cladding that surrounds Russian and American fuel assemblies are made from very different materials. The storage equipment could not handle this type of fuel. The nuclear power plant underwent depressurization of Westinghouse fuel elements, assemblies started to get deformed, the operation got stuck. Trying to avoid the new Chernobyl, the Ukrainian nuclear industry suffered many million loses while trying to repair the damage caused by the use of American fuel. Now the Ukrainian government has decided to take a politically motivated decision to use US non-organic fuel instead of the Russian one. The storage is needed because unlike the Russian companies, Westinghouse does not take back the worked out fuel for recycling. Now American radiation will threaten Europeans at their own expense.

While preparing for concluding an association agreement with Ukraine the European Union made EURATOM part of the deal in October 2013. Ukraine depends on nuclear energy to large extent. French and German companies with great experience in nuclear energy business eye with interest the Ukrainian plants which export part of their production to Europe. Naturally France and Germany want to take advantage of the privatization announced in Ukraine to acquire additional power production capability. But these plans may get frustrated while EURATOM may find itself a party without any clout. The experience shows the US fuel cannot be used in Ukraine for safety reasons. US military personnel is already operating the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Station keeping the Ukrainian employees at the distance, no matter they have the needed qualification to operate exactly the reactors of the given type. In the given case the Americans are not even professionals from Westinghouse, but the military, that is the people who are not interested in safety standards. One can only guess what kind of consequences it may have for Europe. Will the nuclear plane still be operational as a result of these experiments? What about American «specialists» operating other Ukrainian plants, does it serve the interests of European business? What if, besides the Westinghouse storage in Chernobyl, Europeans will have to restore damaged reactors of other plants and decontaminate the territory in Ukraine and other countries at their own expense?

France has experience of being under the pressure of the United States trying to make others use the Westinghouse produced fuel. As a result the French had to put aside many technologies of their own and pay for American licenses to produce and export something they could have done independently.

The same thing is to take place in Ukraine. The United States takes advantage of its control over Kiev implementing the American concept «Ukraine- Europe’s energy hub». As a result, Ukrainian plants will use American fuel running inevitable safety risks. It means Ukrainian politicians are used to make Europe dependent on US energy supplies, something the United States has been trying to achieve for a long time. The Ukrainian «energy hub» is a step on this way. It’s not even about falling under control but rather succumbing to pressure if one remembers the risk of using the Westinghouse fuel by Ukrainian nuclear power plants.